"The price of extinction
Two and a half years ago I wrote about the capture and sale of a Chinese bahaba (Bahaba taipingensis), a critically endangered fish whose swim bladder is believed to cure illnesses of the heart and lungs. That 135-kilogram fish sold for more than $500,000 and was probably one of the last of its species.
Flash forward to this month and another bahaba has turned up, this time in China’s Fujian Province, according to a report from Business Insider. The 80-kilogram fish sold for $473,000. That’s about a 40 percent premium per kilogram over the catch from 2010.
I wonder what the next bahaba will fetch at market—assuming another one ever turns up."
Source: Updates from the Brink: Dying Devils, Disappearing Vultures and a $473,000 Fish | Extinction Countdown, Scientific American Blog Network
Two and a half years ago I wrote about the capture and sale of a Chinese bahaba (Bahaba taipingensis), a critically endangered fish whose swim bladder is believed to cure illnesses of the heart and lungs. That 135-kilogram fish sold for more than $500,000 and was probably one of the last of its species.
Flash forward to this month and another bahaba has turned up, this time in China’s Fujian Province, according to a report from Business Insider. The 80-kilogram fish sold for $473,000. That’s about a 40 percent premium per kilogram over the catch from 2010.
I wonder what the next bahaba will fetch at market—assuming another one ever turns up."
Source: Updates from the Brink: Dying Devils, Disappearing Vultures and a $473,000 Fish | Extinction Countdown, Scientific American Blog Network
